Between the unusual and the machine

the golem in Pantokrátor as a mirror of proletarian tensions in the 21st century

Abstract

This article investigates the figure of the golem in the novel Pantokrator, by Ricardo Labuto Gondim, as an icon of the tensions experienced by the proletarian class in the 21st century. Through the analysis of literary utterances permeated by the unusual, it examines how the narrative construction of the golem translates the complexities and oppressions faced by subaltern classes in a global and technological context. The literary unusual, grounded in the reflections of Irène Bessière and Remo Ceserani, is considered here not merely as escapism, but as a device that provokes meaning effects, subverts conventions, and allows for the exploration of ambiguities and ethical dilemmas inherent to contemporaneity marked by automation and rising inequalities. The analysis focuses on the trajectory of the golem protagonist, his relationships and reflections, highlighting how the novel addresses the boundaries between technology, subjectivity, and power under late capitalism. The study is supported by an interdisciplinary approach, also articulating the psychoanalytic concepts of the Real, the Symbolic, and the Imaginary from Jacques Lacan, which help explain the presence of the unspeakable and the traumatic in the fictionalized proletarian experience. In addition, it employs Dominique Maingueneau’s category of constituent discourses to analyze the role of literature in shaping meanings and social identities. The conclusion is that Pantokrator exemplifies how the literary unusual can rework contemporary political and cultural issues, turning the golem into a mirror reflecting the anxieties and challenges of workers faced with technological changes and the power structures of the 21st century.